School board says fired principal falsified attendance records

Principal plans lawsuit against district

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

OTWELL, Ind. - A southwestern Indiana elementary school principal has been fired by a school board that claims he falsified student attendance records and didn't complete teacher evaluations.

An attorney for Rick Fears said he was shocked by the Pike County School Board's decision and that a lawsuit was planned over Fears' firing as Otwell Elementary School principal.

The Washington Times-Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1a96fpC ) district officials said Fears altered the records of absent students to improve the attendance rate for the school about 40 miles northeast of Evansville.

The district also said Fears violated privacy laws by releasing standardized test results with student names.

Attorney Mark Phillips said he believed after a board hearing last week that Fears was going to be reinstated as principal and that his firing isn't justified.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.